Why doesn’t it have a back button? I ask no one in particular. Why do I have to reach all the way up there to go back where I came from? Soon, there may be an answer for my iPhone frustration—a screen protector with a virtual back button.
Halo Back, a new Kickstarter project, is such a simple idea I’m kicking myself for not thinking of it first. It’s literally just a glass screen protector with a separate capacitive channel that links the bottom of the glass to the top. When you tap the invisible button in the bottom-left corner of the screen protector, it translates that touch to the top-left corner instead—which is exactly where many, many iOS apps place their individual back buttons. Genius.
Of course, that means if Apple ever mandates a change in UI design, it could render these screen protectors somewhat obsolete. But for now, it sounds great! If you’re willing to take a risk on what sounds like a super viable idea—buyer beware, it’s a Kickstarter project—you can help crowdfund it for just $17 today.
Contact the author at sean.hollister@gizmodo.com.
DISCUSSION
Why does Apple think it’s user are too stupid to handle having more than one button? (30 years later, and the Mac still has only 1 mouse button)
We were recently issued iPhones 5s’ for work, and I can’t stand the stupid thing.
I’ve lost track of the number of times where I have been 3 or 4 screens deep into a app, and have no choice except to hit the home button and start all over from scratch, because the app designer forgot to include an on-screen back button.
Gimmicky workarounds like this shouldn’t be necessary. If there is a market for this silly thing, then there is a market for a REAL back button.